You want to know about Dana Hunter, then, do you? I'm a science blogger, SF writer, compleat geology addict, Gnu Atheist, and owner of a - excuse me, owned by a homicidal felid. I'm the author of Really Terrible Bible Stories vol. I: Genesis. I loves me some Doctor Who and Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. Sums me up. I'm a Midwest-born Southwesterner transplanted to the Pacific Northwest, which should explain some personality quirks, the tendency to sprinkle Spanish around, and why I'll subject you to some real jawbreakers in the place names department. I'm delighted to be your cantinera! Join me for una tequila. And feel free to follow @dhunterauthor on Twitter. Salud!

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EVENTS

Friend and fellow Pharyngulite Andy McMillan is giving a talk this Wednesday night at UW. It’s called “Shining a Light on Protein Shapes,” and is bound to be enthralling:

Proteins are responsible for most biological functions, and understanding their shape can tell about how they work (or don’t work in the case of illnesses). A common way of studying proteins is to look at changes in fluorescence from the protein when it changes shape, but the reason why this fluorescence is affected is not always obvious. I am using a combination of experiments and computer simulations to try and understand how changes in a protein could result in changes in fluorescence.

You know howI know it’s gonna be enthralling? Because when we went to Blind Guardian last year, Andy was talking about his work. Had to shout out the details over some very loud heavy metal, and I almost didn’t want Blind Guardian to come on until he’d finished, even though I could only hear about half of what he said and understood about a quarter of it. People: he made fluorescing proteins more interesting than my favorite metal band.

Okay?

So I’m gonna go see him, and if you’re in the Seattle area, you should do it, too. 6:45pm. Johnson Hall, Room 102. Be there or be sad you weren’t.

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Today is the day that I make an announcement: I’m writing a non-fiction book.

Still writing fiction, too, mind, but I’ve got this idea for a little geology book rattling around inside my skull, and the only way to extract it so I can have some peace and quiet round here is to actually write the damned thing. I’ll be working on it through the summer, probably, and here and there as the mood takes me. And you, my darlings, my joys, my beloved Wise Readers, get exclusive access. The first bit of the introduction’s up at A Slight Risk of Insanity. Go on over, kick the tires, examine the interior, make all those critical remarks you make when the used car salesman’s trying to tell you this is the bestest car in the entire universe.

Not a Wise Reader yet? Not a problem! Email me at dhunterauthor at yahoo dot com requesting to become one, and become one you shall.

For those who are just passing by, or have other reasons for not wanting to become Wise Readers (if it’s because you think you are Not Wise, I shall give you such a smack before I make you get your arse on the list), here’s a little something to take your breath away.

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Right. So, somehow, Blogger decided I wanted every single link broken on my ETEV Geo-Posts Lexicon. I just spent the last hour telling it otherwise.

They worked when I tested them. If they’re not working when you try them, please bring your baseball bats and join me in a Blogger Bashing Party, wherein we will completely trash the post that Blogger hated so much.

Please Share the Verdad!

I’m suggesting now that distracted driving is in the same category. People just don’t multitask behind the wheel as well as they think they do, and we should get up in their faces about it. If you’re talking to a friend and you realize they are driving a car, say; “Are you driving? Good bye” and hang up. And if you know someone who texts and drives, refuse to text them at any time until they stop doing it.

A car is no place for multitasking. It’s time to get Zen, folks: when you’re driving, just drive. Please.

And really, really don’t call the phone company to troubleshoot your cell phone while you’re behind the wheel. If it’s that important, find a place to pull over. I trust none of my readers are stupid enough to try to navigate cell phone menus, remove cases and batteries, and all that other stuff while also trying to navigate traffic, so pass it on: don’t make the poor rep you’re talking to listen to you kill or maim yourself and others. Don’t turn an annoyance into a tragedy. Okies?

Here endeth my lecture, but if you didn’t visit George’s post, go do it now. Unless you’re driving. In which case, what the hell are you doing in my cantina?

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Alas, the bashing of fuckery may be a bit light and/or out-of-date this weekend, my darlings – I’m flying in to Arizona to see two dear friends get married. I’m also taking the opportunity to impose on the parents. I’m sure they’ll be delighted with this last-minute announcement.

I’m going from this:

A lush paradise.

To this:

A bloody desert.

And then coming home to this:

Misha expressing her opinion of mothers who leave their kitties alone on the weekend.

I must be insane.

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Intrigued? You should be. If you’re going to be in London on June 16th, you should give serious consideration to attending this Big Ideas event. And then you can email me a smug description of how fun it was, and how big the ideas were, and how awful it was I had to miss it due to being stuck in the bloody United States.

You don’t have any idea how much I wish I could attend this. So go. Go, and rub salt in my wounds after.